Saving outdoor areas more than just environmental

When Alex Schmidt was in the second grade, a company wanted to build a gas station on some wetlands near the north end of the Canyon View Elementary School’s overflow parking lot. Schmidt’s mom and a teacher from the school got the students, including Schmidt, involved in protecting the space.

As an active snowboarder, hiker and fly-fisherman, Schmidt enjoys all aspects of what the Wasatch Range has to offer and knows that people need to realize that the range is a finite resource that needs to be taken care of.

“I saw at a really young age that things aren’t going to protect themselves,” says Schmidt. “There has to be someone to stand up and say ‘Put a gas station someplace else.’”

Schmidt, 26, started at Save Our Canyons in 2005 as a volunteer stuffing newsletters. He started his AmeriCorps service on March 3, 2011.

“I just want to be where I can have the most positive affect on the situation,” says Schmidt.

He says that he treats the Wasatch Mountains like is his office. It is a place where he can “check in” with himself.

“I’ve seen what potential there is for people who recreate in the Wasatch Mountains to be better people,” says Schmidt. There is a correlation between active lives and more productive lives.

The trail outreach coordinator for Save Our Canyons, Schmidt is also a part of the AmeriCorps program. He says that his greatest accomplishments, including working on 19 miles of trail with 250 volunteers, have been accomplished through teamwork.

“As individuals, you can absolutely affect change in a positive way,” says Schmidt, “but collectively, not only is there, but there has to be power in numbers.”

From the classes that he has taken for his associate’s degree at SLCC and his work at Save Our Canyons, Schmidt has learned that “there has to be facts behind your passion.”

He is currently working on his environmental certificate from the University of Utah’s Nonprofit Academy for Excellence.​This article was originally published at examiner.com as part of the America Inspired series. Links have been updated August 2016. According to saveourcanyons.org, Schmidt is now Campaigns Coordinator.